When Baltimore Circuit Judge Richard T. Rombro retired from the bench in 1999, he and his wife, Iris, considered moving to the suburbs.
But the judge decided it was important to show people that there were plenty of nice places to live in Baltimore. So three years ago, the Rombros paid $80,000 for a penthouse condominium in the 7100 block of Park Heights Ave. and decided to renovate it into their dream home.
"Some people think you need to move out to Towson or the county to find a nice place to live," the judge says, "but it's just not true."
Margaret Rome, who was the real estate agent for the Rombros, said it was important to find a place that had enough space to accommodate their extended family - the couple have five grown children and 10 grandchildren who visit regularly.
Also, the ninth-floor penthouse needed amenities such as underground parking, an elevator, valet service for bad weather, a balcony and laundry facilities inside the apartment.
"Most important, though, was that it was in Baltimore," Rome says. "The judge is a big believer in the city, so how can you believe in the city and then move out to the county?"
But the Rombros had plenty of work to do to the home before it met their specifications. And the judge says he wasn't optimistic when he first saw the place being renovated.
"When I first walked in I had this thing in the pit of my stomach," Rombro says. "And I said [the designers would] never get this place back together, but they were convinced they could. So they forbid me to come back until it was done."
The Rombros enlisted the help of Kenny Sprafkin, who owns Creative Interiors in Pikesville. The couple declined to say how much they spent on renovations but acknowledged that it was more than they paid for the condominium.
Sprafkin said he examined the Rombros' lifestyle to discover what designs would best suit them. He transformed the three-bedroom, three-bathroom condo into a one-bedroom, 2 1/2 -bathroom dream suite. This allowed for more storage space, laundry room and an office for the judge, who still works up to four days a week on asbestos cases.
"When they first built the entertainment center, the wood stain on the shelves didn't exactly match the stain of the moldings," the judge says of the renovation. "Kenny had the moldings taken down and refinished to match exactly. That's the kind of care you look for in a designer."
Since the Rombros love art, the house is decorated with copies of Degas ballerinas, paintings and vintage posters, many of which were brought in by designers. The apartment also was fitted with a sound system.
The formal living room has white carpeting with a fold-out sleeper sofa to accommodate visiting relatives. The condo also features a dining room that can seat up to 18 people.
The kitchen was redesigned to include new cabinets as well as granite countertops and a hand-painted design on the ceramic-tiled wall.
"I truly believe the kitchen is one of the most beautiful kitchens you'll find in any apartment in Baltimore City," Sprafkin said.
To make the home seem larger, the doors to the den were moved, so that they open into the living room instead of the hallway.
Sprafkin also added an open-shelved entertainment center to the room, choosing a dark wood that matches the leather sofas there.
In the end, just three amenities from the original apartment remained: The marble countertops in the master bathroom, one set of faucets from the master bathroom and the hardwood floor in the den.
